Release time, downtime schedule, and early patch notes

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 is nearly here, and after a mostly uneventful debut season for Chapter 5, the next season is set to bring a ton of new items, map changes, and collabs to the island. Epic Games has already begun teasing the new season, and Fortnite v29.00 is shaping up to be one of the game’s most exciting updates in quite some time.

Based on Epic’s official teasers and everything we know from datamines and leaks, Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 5 will be themed around Greek mythology. The Battle Pass will most likely include original designs for Greek gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, among others. It’s a nice breath of fresh air after a season that focused heavily on crossovers with franchises like Family Guy and Metal Gear Solid.

Of course, crossovers and collaborations are a core part of Fortnite’s DNA at this point, and there are plenty of skins and cosmetics coming to the game from your favorite franchises during Chapter 2 Season 5. There’s a lot to look forward to, and as Pandora’s Box continues to wreak more and more havoc on the island, Chapter 5 Season 2 draws ever closer.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 Start Time

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 will be released on Friday, March 8, 2024. The current season is slated to end at 11 PM PT on March 7 or 2 AM ET on March 8, at which point the Fortnite servers will go down for maintenance so the new content can be implemented. There won’t be a live event or anything like that, so the servers will go down unceremoniously. Make sure to complete your Chapter 5 Season 1 Battle Pass before then so you don’t miss out on Peter Griffin or Solid Snake.

How Long is Fortnite v29.00 Downtime?

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 downtime will begin at 11 PM PT on Thursday, March 7, or 2 AM ET on Friday, March 8. Once the servers go down that evening, Fortnite will be unplayable while Epic Games prepares to deploy the new season.

Fortnite downtime typically only lasts a few hours, but this is a larger update so things could take a little bit longer. Fortnite’s servers typically come back online early in the morning around 5 AM PT/8 AM ET, so don’t stay up too late hoping to get a few hours of gameplay in once the servers come back online.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 Patch Notes

Since Epic Games is still drip-feeding teasers about the upcoming season, there isn’t a whole lot of official information about Chapter 5 Season 2 just yet. However, Fortnite leakers and dataminers have come in clutch yet again with some exciting details about the v29.00 update. Fortnite fans can look forward to these things with Chapter 5 Season 2:

• Zeus ability with three stages
• Gold Apple item that gives a speed boost
• New Cerberus Shotgun weapon
• Olympus POI and other map changes
• New Wings item that grants flight with a 30-second cooldown
• Hostile Monster NPCs that act as henchmen for Greek god minibosses
• Four bosses (Medusa, Ares, Cerberus, Zeus)
• Zeus Lightning Bolt Mythic
• Hades Fire Chain Mythic
• Poseidon Trident Mythic
• Ares Burst Rifle Mythic
• Cerberus Tactical Shotgun Mythic
• Persona 3 Reload collaboration

These are all basically confirmed for Chapter 5 Season 2 since they come from reputable sources. In addition to the Persona 3 Reload collaboration, a Fortnite user research session was held about future Item Shop skins when the v29.00 was being tested on Epic’s servers. Those users voted and these collabs topped the list:

• God of War
• One Piece
• Xena
• Kevin Sorbo’s Hercules
• Final Fantasy 7
• Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom
• Halo Wars

These collaborations aren’t confirmed, but a few of them will likely make their way into the Fortnite Item Shop at some point during Chapter 5 Season 2. These sessions and surveys tend to be good sources for upcoming Fortnite crossovers.

Some more information:

Apparently the original source was @FortnitePV2
According to @Wensoing who gave me a heads up on the proper source, the following extra info is included:

– 4 Bosses with 3 Stages each (Medusa, Ares, Cerberus, Zeus)
– Each boss would have a mythic (Zeus…

— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) March 5, 2024

Most leakers believe that Kratos will finally return to the Item Shop because of the season’s Greek mythology theme, and some even say that Atreus will make his Fortnite debut alongside his father. Final Fantasy 7 is also another highly-requested collaboration that would be perfect given the recent release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PlayStation 5.

Plus, a collaboration event was leaked for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the cast of the show should be added to Fortnite sometime during Chapter 5 Season 2. According to leakers, there will be an Event Pass just like with previous major collabs, and you’ll be able to get the Aang skin and Aapa glider from that Event Pass. There will also be Item Shop skins that can be purchased for V-Bucks, and these are likely to include Katara, Sokka, Toph, or Zuko.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 Battle Pass

Given the season’s Greek mythology theme and the teasers that Epic Games has released, it’s safe to say that the Chapter 5 Season 2 Battle Pass will feature a group of Greek gods and other mythological cosmetics. You can take a look at the teaser images for every Battle Pass skins released so far below.

So far, Epic Games has only teased a few of the Greek gods coming to Fortnite in the v29.00 update, but more will be released throughout the week as Chapter 5 Season 2 draws closer. Based on the leaked information about bosses that will be found on the island in Chapter 5 Season 2, it’s safe to assume that the Battle Pass will feature Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Ares.

The Chapter 5 Season 1 Battle Pass featured eight skins, however, so there will be more than those four in the upcoming season. There’s a long list of Greek gods to pull from, so the next Battle Pass could easily feature the likes of Athena, Hera, Dionysus, Hermes, Apollo, or any other mythological figure. There could also be a collaboration skin that Epic hasn’t revealed yet on top of that.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 is set to begin on Friday, March 8, 2024. Chapter 5 Season 1 added a bunch of new content to the game including limited-time crossover skins, so make sure you’ve maxed out the current Battle Pass before it’s too late. The recently released Mosaic Snapshot quests should give you a nice chunk of XP to finish off those last few levels if you need a boost.